UK Parliament / Open data

Compensation Bill [HL]

That is a good reason why I should speak to Amendment No. 47. I seek to omit the very words that the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, has just described as ““a wise qualification””, but when I drafted the amendment I had not heard those wise words. Demonstrating effort does not require very much effort. Amendment No. 47 firms up the onus on the regulator to meet any targets. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, that it is very difficult to speak to any amendments to this clause, and in particular to subsection (4), without knowing what the Secretary of State has in mind as regards not only targets, but directions, guidance and codes of practice. It is almost as if the parliamentary draftsman had been thinking of every possible eventuality over which the Secretary of State might wish to exercise some form of control over the regulator, so that we have directions, guidance, codes of practice and targets and then, finally, any report or information. I believe that the Minister has to give us a little more detail. We are operating in a detail-free vacuum, so it would be very helpful indeed if she used this amendment to give us some more detail. If targets are to be set, surely the regulator must meet them. Given the right enabling legislation, the challenge for the regulator will be realistic and deliverable. It is arguable that this subsection weakens the demands on the regulator rather than strengthens them. Surely we would assume, anyway, that there would be certain targets, whether implicit, explicit—
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
677 c305GC 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords Grand Committee
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